Products may include both physical and information-containing items, such as produce, documents, labels, books, software, images, and the like. During the lifecycle of the product, it may progress through a workflow, such as from a manufacturer, through a chain of distributors, and on to a consumer. As used herein, a workflow is a defined set of stages and transitions or transformations between stages, usually with a task to be performed at each stage, which a product must pass through during its lifecycle. For example, a document may be drafted by a first person, then flow through a number of different editors, prior to being issued to customers or clients in final form. As another example, a manufacturer may package a product for sale to another manufacturer, such as a bundled software package to be sold with a computer.
A bar code may be associated with a product for numerous reasons. For example, a bar code may protect an associated product from counterfeiting and other falsifications. The same bar code may be used throughout the workflow to identify the product. However, this approach does not enable one to monitor the status of the workflow via the bar code. Multiple bar codes may be added, for example, by each entity within a workflow. This may be used to identify the product as it moves from one stage to the next in its workflow. For example, multiple barcodes may be used to confirm the identity of the last party to handle the product. However, the use of multiple bar codes may take a substantial amount of space.